My Fair Lady (1964 film)
This is about '''the film.' For the original stage musical, see My Fair Lady (musical).'' My Fair Lady is a 1964 film adaptation of the musical of the same name. Cast Singing cast *Audrey Hepburn - Eliza Doolittle **Marni Nixon - Eliza Doolittle (singing voice) *Rex Harrison - Professor Henry Higgins *Stanley Holloway - Alfred P. Doolittle *Wilfrid Hyde-White - Colonel Hugh Pickering *Bill Shirley - Freddy Eynsford-Hill (singing voice) *Mona Washbourne - Mrs. Pearce *John Alderson - Jamie *John McLiam - Harry Non-singing cast *Jeremy Brett - Freddy Eynsford-Hill *Gladys Cooper - Mrs. Higgins *Theodore Bikel - Zoltan Karpathy Plot In Edwardian London, Professor Henry Higgins, a scholar of phonetics, believes that the accent and tone of one's voice determines a person's prospects in society. In Covent Garden one evening, he boasts to a new acquaintance, Colonel Hugh Pickering, himself an expert in phonetics, that he could teach any person to speak in a way that he could pass them off as a duke or duchess at an embassy ball. Higgins selects as an example a young flower seller, Eliza Doolittle, who has a strong Cockney accent. Eliza's ambition is to work in a flower shop, but her thick accent makes her unsuitable. Having come from India to meet Higgins, Pickering is invited to stay with the professor. The following morning, Eliza shows up at Higgins' home, seeking lessons. Pickering is intrigued and offers to cover all expenses if the experiment should be successful. Eliza's father, Alfred P. Doolittle, a dustman, shows up three days later, ostensibly to protect his daughter's virtue, but in reality simply to extract some money from Higgins, and is bought off with £5. Higgins is impressed by the man's honesty, his natural gift for language, and especially his brazen lack of morals. Higgins recommends Alfred to a wealthy American who is interested in morality. Eliza goes through many forms of speech training, such as speaking with marbles in her mouth, enduring Higgins' harsh approach to teaching and his treatment of her personally. She makes little progress, but just as she, Higgins, and Pickering are about to give up, Eliza finally "gets it"; she instantly begins to speak with an impeccable upper class accent. As a test, Higgins takes her to Ascot Racecourse, where she makes a good impression initially, only to shock everyone by a sudden lapse into vulgar Cockney while cheering on a horse. Higgins, who dislikes the pretentiousness of the upper class, partly conceals a grin behind his hand. Eliza poses as a mysterious lady at an embassy ball and even dances with a foreign prince. At the ball is Zoltan Karpathy, a Hungarian phonetics expert trained by Higgins. After a brief conversation with Eliza, he certifies that she is not only Hungarian, but of royal blood, declaring her to be a Princess. After all the effort she has put in, however, Eliza is given hardly any credit; all the praise going to Higgins. This, and his callous treatment towards her afterwards, especially his indifference to her future, causes her to throw Higgins' slippers at him, and to walk out on him, leaving him mystified by her ingratitude. Accompanied by Freddy Eynsford-Hill, a young man she met at Ascot and who is charmed by her, Eliza returns to her old life, but finds that she no longer fits in. She meets her father, who has been left a large fortune by the wealthy American to whom Higgins had recommended him, and is resigned to marrying Eliza's stepmother. Alfred feels that Higgins has ruined him, since he is now bound by morals and responsibility. Eventually, Eliza ends up visiting Higgins' mother, who is incensed at her son's behaviour. The next day, Higgins finds Eliza gone and searches for her, eventually finding her at his mother's house. Higgins attempts to talk Eliza into coming back to him. He becomes angered when Eliza announces that she is going to marry Freddy and become Karpathy's assistant. He makes his way home, stubbornly predicting that she will come crawling back. However, he comes to the realization that he has "grown accustomed to her face." Henry returns to his study to lament his loneliness. As he listens to Eliza's recorded voice, she reappears in the doorway behind him, turning off the recording and saying the words "I washed my hands and face before I come I did." leaving the audience to decide what happens next as Higgins looks surprised then pleased before asking for his slippers once more as Eliza smiles on behind him. Musical numbers *"Why Can't the English?" - Higgins, Pickering and Chorus *"Wouldn't It Be Loverly" - Eliza and Ensemble *"I'm an Ordinary Man" - Higgins *"With a Little Bit of Luck" - Doolittle, Jamie, Harry and Ensemble *"Just You Wait" - Eliza *"Servants' Chorus (Poor Professor Higgins)" - Servants *"The Rain in Spain" - Higgins, Pickering and Eliza *"I Could Have Danced All Night" - Eliza, Mrs. Pearce, and chambermaids *"Ascot Gavotte" - Spectators *"Ascot Gavotte (Reprise)" - Spectators *"On the Street Where You Live" - Freddy *"You Did It" - Higgins, Pickering and Ensemble *"Just You Wait (Reprise)" - Eliza *"On the Street Where You Live (Reprise)" - Freddy *"Show Me" - Eliza and Freddy *"The Flower Market" - Eliza and Ensemble *"Get Me to the Church on Time (I'm Getting Married in the Morning)" - Doolittle, Jamie, Harry and Ensemble *"A Hymn to Him (Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Man)" - Higgins *"Without You" - Eliza and Higgins *"I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" - Higgins Category:Musical films